There is a need for a device that will prevent the waste of the chemical energy stored within a battery when a load connected to the battery is accidentally left open for an extended period of time.
Chemical energy stored within a battery will dissipate upon a load being attached to its terminals. The rate in which the energy dissipated will depend on how much voltage the load consumes. The load's consumption of electrical energy is controlled by the user of the device using the load. When the circuit between the load and the battery is closed the device will consume electrical energy until the circuit is opened.
The inventor of this invention conceived this invention by observing his children play with battery operated toys. He noticed that his children would not turn off their toys once they where turned on. He realized that it would be easier to develop a universal device that would open the circuit between a battery and a device connected to it, than to change his children's behavior.
He realized that there were two ways of addressing the problem. The first way is to install in every device a timing/activity switch that will monitor the device's activity and when the activity falls below a threshold, the switch shall open the circuit delivering the electrical energy to the device.
The second method for solving the problem is to install a circuit within the battery that has a timing switch and a motion detector/switch connected within. The circuit would be triggered on by any movement. Upon movement being detected by the motion switch of the device, the circuit would close and the circuit would allow the energy within the battery to flow to an external load (a toy or a flashlight). The timing switch would be calibrated to run for a certain period of time before triggering the circuit to open.
When researching the prior art, U.S. Pat. No. 5,173,653 disclosed a device that is to be placed between a load and a battery. The device is a timing switch that disconnects the current flow between the battery and the load upon a defined period of time. The Patent suffers from the fact that the timing switch triggers after a certain period of time, even if the device connected is still being used, and that the control circuit that activates the timer will always drain energy from the battery.
An object of the present invention is to provide a device that will save the chemical energy within a battery when the battery is connected to an outside load that is accidentally left on.
Another object of this invention is to provide a universal device that can be distributed to the public without having to change the space in which a battery is stored.
A further object of this invention is to prevent a timing switch from draining the chemical energy within the battery when the circuit is open.
Yet a further object of this invention is to provide a reliable battery saver device that is housed within the battery.